Former Morning Call Softball Coach of the Year is out of a job

Liberty High's Rich Giering, who was The Morning Call's Softball Coach of the Year in 2012 after he led the Hurricanes to the program's first-ever District 11 title, has not been rehired.

Athletic director Fred Harris confirmed that the program has an opening on Tuesday morning and is seeking applications for a new softball coach.

"I wish Rich well," Harris said. "He did a good job for us."

Harris declined to go into the specifics of the school district's decision, saying it was a personnel decision.

According to a report on lehighvalleylive.com, a parent spoke up in favor of Giering on Monday night at the Bethlehem school board meeting and said her daughter and many of her teammates wanted him to remain as coach. Giering, according to the report, also spoke in front of the board and requested a meeting with the board in private to discuss what happened, but was denied that opportunity.

Various sources have said that the district's decision had to do with Giering's handling of a situation that involved a starting player at the end of the season. The player did not play in the team's District 11 4A quarterfinal against Northampton, a game that Liberty lost in extra innings.

After the game, Giering was asked about the player's absence and he told a reporter that the involved player didn't participate because she violated team rules.

Liberty, featuring two-time Morning Call player of the year Mariah Kondravy, finished the season with an 18-6 record and was 97-44 over Giering's six seasons in charge.

The high point of his tenure came in 2012 when the team went 20-5.

Prior to being hired at Liberty, his alma mater, Giering, 54, had been an assistant coach at Bethlehem Catholic. He is generally considered one of the more popular coaches in the local softball community because of his extensive background, not only in high school, but also with summer/travel league softball.

A call to Giering for comment was not immediately returned, but he will offer his side in a story to run in Saturday's Morning Call.

Who was the LVC's all-time best football team?

Our series on the Lehigh Valley Conference's all-time best teams reaches the Final Four phase this Sunday.

Spoiler alert:

Three of the final four on the top-10 list are football teams, all state champs -- Parkland 2002, Liberty 2008 and Central Catholic 2010.

Who was the best of that bunch?

I've got to tell you, I have agonized over that decision ever since we came up with the idea of doing a series.

I've talked to members of our staff, and I've talked a bunch of people who saw all three teams and let me tell you, it's tough to decide a No. 1, a No. 2 and a No. 3. There is no right or wrong answer.

All it does is provide the basis for a good discussion and/or debate.

They're all absolutely great teams, featuring some of the best players we've ever seen on a local gridiron.

We're talking about people like Austin Scott, Anthony Gonzalez, Brendan Nosovitch and many more.

With links to the outstanding epasports.com site, here's a look at the schedule and scores for each team:

BOYS OF SUMMER PLAYER OF WEEK: Liberty and Lehigh product Pat Donnelly

Despite the record of his team, 6-14 through Friday, Quakertown Blazers shortstop Pat Donnelly said he’s having a lot of fun this summer.

“It’s so much baseball all the time,” the 2013 Liberty High graduate said. “If you have a bad day, you can get right back up the next day. And if you’re hot, you can stay hot because you just keep playing. You don’t have much to think about.”

Donnelly didn’t mind reflecting on an amazing win Quakertown posted last Tuesday. The Blazers fell behind 7-0 after a half-inning before rallying for a 15-7 victory. Donnelly was a key to the comeback, going 4-for-5 with an RBI triple. The performance raised his average to .381, second best on the team.

He is coming off a solid freshman season at Lehigh where he batted .269 with five extra-base hits, 18 runs scored and 13 RBIs while stealing seven bases. He started at third base for the Mountain Hawks.

“This summer I just wanted to focus on being confident,” he said. “I appreciated the opportunity to start as a freshman and I had a pretty solid year. I hit seventh at Lehigh and next year I hope to move up to the top of the lineup. I’ve been focusing on getting my pitch and hitting it. It’s all about getting on base for my team.”

Donnelly, who was also a solid basketball player at Liberty, enjoys the competition in the Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League and the chance to play with other area products like Nazareth grad and Lehigh teammate Mike Garzillo.

“The competition is good, especially the speed of the pitching,” Donnelly said. “I’d love to have a shot at getting drafted, but right now I am just focused on getting better.”

It took awhile, but Northampton eliminates Liberty with 8-7 District 11 4A quarterfinal win

It took three trips to Moravian College over three straight days and three extra innings on Saturday, but Northampton finally posted an 8-7 win over Liberty on Saturday to advance to the District 11 4A softball semifinals.

At some point area softball fans may have wondered if the Northampton-Liberty game would be over by Tuesday.

The two teams were rained out on Thursday after both teams were at the site.

And then on Friday, the teams waited out a ran delay before play was permanently stopped again in the top of the seventh inning with Northampton having taken a 7-5 lead. The Konkrete Kids also had a runner on second base.

When play resumed, Liberty, which went to sophomore hurler Victoria Schmidt, got out of that jam and then scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh when a walk by Reyna DeJeses and a double by Ashley Malek led to back-to-back sacrifice flies by Mariah Kondravy and Emily Cecchini.

Neither side could produce a run in the eighth or ninth, invokling the International tiebreaker at the start of the 10th, which means the inning begins with a runner at second base.

The runner for Northampton was Taylor Kerbacher, who made the last out of the ninth.

Kerbacher hustled to third on Bri Dalton's grounder to short and scored on Auria Enright's grounder to short.

Liberty began its half of the 10th with Cecchini on second and pinch-runner Brandi Grello got to third on a sacrifice bunt by Lauren Epsaro.

However, winning pitcher Jillian Muthard, who came on in relief of fellow freshman Taylor Keeney in the eighth, got Nicole Iasiello on a popup to second and Victoria Schmidt on a fly to left to end it.

"What a great game, what a great competition with great athletes," Northampton's first-year coach Kevin Mann said. "And we played it here at a beautiful complex at Moravian. The weather was a factor, but it has been a factor all year starting with the snow and cold in March."

And now, the K-Kids are playing past Memorial Day.

"I had no doubt from the beginning that we were going to pull this one out," said Kerbacher, a senior who had three hits and knocked in four runs, including a two-run double in the third inning on Friday.

"We came in here as the underdog, but we don't give up. We fight until the bitter end. They're a very good team, but so are we. It's my senior year and I don't want this to end. We couldn't control the weather and it kind of stunk having to come back here three days in a row, but it's all worth it if we're still playing on Tuesday night."

Northampton has rallied back from 3-0 deficits in both of its district wins over Easton and Liberty and seems to be peaking.

But the next challenge is much bigger -- Parkland.

Kerbacher isn't backing down, even though the Trojans have beaten Northampton three times by a combined total of 22-0.

"We're not letting them beat us a fourth time," Kerbacher said. "This is our fourth time against [Parkland ace] Morgan Rentzheimer and I have no doubt that we can take it this time. They're not coming at us like they did last time. They don't have the same excitement. They beat Nazareth and they knew they could beat Nazareth. We came into this game knowing we had to do a lot of work and now we leave here with a lot of momentum."

Liberty, meanwhile, closed the book on an 18-6 season and its senior group posted the best four-year run in school history -- registering 68 wins.

Coach Rich Giering, whose team played without all-star shortstop Alyshia Dellatore due to a disciplinary action, said he didn't agree with how everything was handled with the rain delay on Friday, but added: "We had our chances. We shouldn't have been in the spot we were in coming back here today.

"We're going to miss our seniors and I am going to miss writing their names down on a lineup card. But we have a lot of good kids coming back and our JV team lost just one game. We'll be a younger team, but we'll be back here again."

Liberty's Emily Cecchini has made her mother proud

I know you can get this story elsewhere online if you look hard enough on mcall.com, but because I consider this young lady to be one of the most special people in local sports this year, I wanted to give this story some additional exposure here on Groller's Corner. Not because I wrote it, but because Emily Cecchini deserves it. So does Robyn Cecchini. This is one of my favorite stories of the year; perhaps many years.

Cecchini has done her mother proud with an amazing career at Liberty H.S.

The Lehigh Valley Conference's scholar-athlete and three-sport standout is a shining light to her family, and her school

This is the time of year of celebrations and ceremonies; an emotional flurry of events when many parents proudly get to salute their senior high school students and congratulate them on what they’ve accomplished in their scholastic careers.

It’s the season for pats on the back, hearty hugs, and, yes, tearful embraces.

Sadly, Robyn Cecchini won’t be there in person to congratulate her daughter, Emily, as she receives a multitude of honors for her academic and athletic success and then gets her high school diploma.

Robyn Cecchini lost her battle with cancer 14 months ago.

But make no mistake, Robyn Cecchini (pictured with Emily below right) is still smiling, still extremely proud of her daughter’s amazing accomplishments and still shining through her daughter’s determination and grit.

Robyn Cecchini, and everyone who had a hand in shaping Emily Cecchini into one of the most special people in Lehigh Valley athletics, should be proud.

Put simply, Emily Cecchini is the epitome of what a high school student-athlete is all about.

Earlier this week, the third baseman on the Hurricanes softball team received the award as the Lehigh Valley Conference female scholar-athlete of the year at a breakfast ceremony

She was also the individual sport scholar-athlete for both softball and girls swimming and was Liberty’s nominee in cross country.

“There are few times in life when someone so young is a role model to adults and this young lady is a role model to her administration, her teachers and coaches,” Harris said. “I hope that my daughters — who are age nine and 12 — can grow up to be half the person that Emily is. We’re so proud of her, professionally and personally. She’s a role model to us, and reminds us of why we do what we do.”

Cecchini is headed to the U.S. Naval Academy and while such an appointment requires special circumstances and a nomination from a someone important — U.S. Representative Charlie Dent in this case — the U.S. Naval Academy is lucky to be getting this young lady.

Her GPA of 4.8 (ranked No. 3 in her senior class) and the fact that she participates in three sports makes her amazing enough.

But when you consider that she achieved at such a high academic level while going through the most extraordinary adversity that a young could person could experience — losing her mother as a high school junior — you more readily understand why everyone at Liberty will be rooting for Cecchini as she goes to Annapolis.

When you talk to her, you hear a very determined, strong-willed person who will not allow any obstacle to impede her from attaining her goals.

“Ever since I was little, I jam-packed my schedule with a billion different things,” Cecchini said. “Now that I’ve gotten older, I think being so busy and so involved has really helped me with time management. Having to juggle everything and give 100 percent all the time, has pushed me.”

Seeing her mother go through her battle with cancer didn’t knock Cecchini off course, although there were many difficult days.

“I was not in a very good place when it first happened,” she said. “I struggled coming back. It was a struggle to get into a normal routine again. But her passing also motivated me.”

“I decided to do things that would make her proud if she were still here. I wanted to live for her and make her proud because she had a huge, contributing factor into making me the person that I am today. She instilled in me a tremendous drive and work-ethic to be the best I can be. That never left me.”

Her father, Bill, who is an assistant principal at Freedom said: “Emily emulates her mother. She got all of her great traits from her. She was affected as anyone in her shoes would be by the passing of her mother. It devastated her. But Emily has never let anything stand in her way.”

Emily Cecchini was in eighth grade where her mother first was diagnosed with breast cancer. The cancer was in remission for several years, and even when it returned, Emily thought her mother was going to beat it again.

She credits her teammates and classmates for helping her get through the emotional torrent of losing someone so close so quickly.

“I had amazing support; so did my whole family,” she said. “The cross country, swimming and softball team showed up en mass to my mom’s viewing. When they walked in, it was so amazing to me. Their support meant so much. Without it, I don’t think I’d be where I’m at today. Sports, in that aspect, is so great. The strong connection with your teammates is what sports is all about.

“We had a ‘Pink Out’ softball game and a ‘Run-for-the-cure’ race and we donated a lot of money in my mother’s name. It was such a great thing for me to know I had people in my life that I could lean on.”

Now, her younger sister, Sarah, a Liberty freshman, is leaning on Emily.

“My dad has tons of obligations at Freedom and losing my mom did force me to step up a lot,” Emily said. “My dad is doing a great job of juggling things, but I do more with Sarah now. We’ve come together more now than ever. I do what I can for her. I will miss her when I go to the Naval Academy.”

Liberty will miss Cecchini. As lucky as Liberty was to have Cecchini, she feels lucky to have had Liberty in her life the past four years.

“I couldn’t imagine being anywhere else,” she said. “The people I’ve met, the opportunities I’ve had here. I feel truly blessed. I have faced some battles and been put in some difficult situations, but I am stronger for it. I know the U.S. Naval Academy will be a great challenge, but I think I am ready.”

Predictions for today's District 11 4A softball games

We've got five District 11 4A softball matchups on tap today as we get the tournament started.

All involve at least one Lehigh Valley Conference team and here's where we'll get to see just how truly good the LVC was this season.

We know Parkland's pretty good. The Trojans are 20-0 even if they did get some help from an umpire's call in the LVC title game against Emmaus.

We think Emmaus is pretty good. The Green Hornets played Parkland to a draw through six innings last Thursday night.

What about the rest?

We'll find out about certain teams today.

Here's how I see it shaping up:

Liberty 12, PM East 2 -- I don't see this one going the full seven innings. I see a lot of Hurricanes offense and a couple of home runs. Special kudos to Liberty third baseman Emily Cecchini who was not only the LVC scholar-athlete in softball, but also the league's scholar-athlete in girls swimming. She's obviously a very special kid.

Easton 3, Northampton 2 -- An upset special. Just think the Red Rovers are playing very good softball and are getting solid pitching from sophomore Maegan Kavanagh and great hitting and leadership from catcher Rebecca Mitch and others. Meanwhile, the Konkrete Kids are showing their inexperience. That was not a good performance against Parkland in last week's LVC semis.

Freedom 3, Pottsville 0 -- Patriots sophomore pitcher Shayla Peterson showed what she can when she blanked Liberty in the regular-season finale. I think she's capable of another gem here, although the Tide offers a solid program and gave unbeaten Williams Valley all it wanted in the Schuylkill League finals.

Nazareth 9, Stroudsburg 8 -- I expect a slugfest. The Blue Eagles' Brooke Lichty and Toni Anne Hahn have had great years. One of the two could come with the game-winning hit here.

Emmaus 5, Whitehall 1 -- This is where I'll be. It'll be interesting to see how the Green Hornets react to last Thursday night's disappointment. A lot of tears were shed. John Eyer has used a pitching rotation all season, but to me, the ball must go to Olivia Marcks the rest of the season because she has established herself as a premier pitcher. I give Whitehall credit for not giving up on what has often been a struggling season, but I think this might be the end of the road.

Emmaus scores in the bottom of the seventh to beat Liberty and advance to LVC softball finals

One out away from a victory over Liberty in Monday's Lehigh Valley Conference softball semis, Rachel Brown dropped a flyball in right that allowed Alyshia Dellatore to score the tying run in the top of the seventh.

But the Green Hornets and Brown rallied right back in the bottom half of the inning.

Claire Harris reached on an error, Brown singled to right and when the ball got away, Emmaus had runners on second and third. Miryah Palko then lofted a bloop single that just fell out of the outstretched arms of second baseman Nicole Iasiello in shallow right and the Green Hornets had a 5-4 victory and a return trip to the LVC finals.

The Green Hornets will play Parkland at 7 p.m. Thursday night back at Pates Park. The Trojans defeated Northampton 10-0 in six innings in the second game on Monday night.

Emmaus (15-5) got two-run home runs from Olivia Marcks in the first and Emily Dugan in the sixth and had a 4-2 lead entering the seventh.

But the Hurricanes stirred with a single by Mariah Kondravy (3-for-4) and a double by Alyshia Dellatore getting them within one.

Marcks then struck out the next two hitters before Nicole Iasiello lofted a fly to deep right that Brown got under but couldn't corral. Dellatore scored, but Iasiello was thrown out at the plate trying to score when the throw got away.

"When we came in, Rachel was down, but we reminded her that the game wasn't over," Emmaus coach John Eyer said. "We said 'Don't worry about it. Just go out and do your job. You're hitting second.' And that's what she did. She came up with a big basehit for us."

Now, Liberty (17-5) will have to wait until next week's District 11 tournament.

Emmaus, which fell to Bethlehem Catholic in last year's LVC finals, is looking to win its first-ever LVC title in the last year of the league.

Marcks, a senior, will be the starting pitcher.

She didn't start against Liberty, but came in after the four Liberty batters reached in the top of the first and the Hurricanes had a 2-0 lead and two on base. Marcks escaped without further damage and didn't allow a run until the 7th.

"These are the games I thrive in," Marcks, pictured below left, said. "I thrive under pressure. These games bring out the best in everybody on our team. We play up to the level of our competition."

As for her home run, Marcks said: "It felt great, especially coming in the first inning after they took the lead. We wanted to show them that this isn't going to be an easy win for them. We were coming out hard."

The two-run home run by Dugan in the sixth came off a high pitch. She had what many thought was a grand slam in Emmaus' previous 15-8 win over Liberty, but it was called a ground-rule double. This time she left no doubt.

"I like swinging at the high ones," said Dugan (photo at right) who has three home runs this season. "I knew that was a big hit for us, but I knew we had to stay strong and play good defense."

As for playing Parkland, Marcks looks forward to the challenge of going against an undefeated team.

My time on a Bethlehem sidewalk, and a Wednesday I won't soon forget

In his famous ESPYs speech in 1993, the late Jim Valvano talked about what constitutes a good, full day and he talked about the need to experience a variety of emotions in any given day. Remember these words from Jimmy V:

"To me, there are three things we all should do every day. We should do this every day of our lives. Number one is laugh. You should laugh every day. Number two is think. You should spend some time in thought. Number three is, you should have your emotions moved to tears, could be happiness or joy. But think about it. If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that’s a full day."

Well, on Wednesday I had a full day. I experienced all kinds of emotions and frankly it's OK with me if I don't experience some of them again any time soon.

To recap:

7:15 a.m. -- Check out my cellphone text messages and e-mails that give me the shocking and extremely sad news that Whitehall assistant basketball coach Ron Madouse has died. A very good guy so ingrained in the Zephyrs community and he's gone way, way too soon. I learn from Eric Snyder that Ron was a member of Whitehall's Class of 1980 just like my wife, which adds a touch of poignancy to his passing.

News of Madouse's death has brought a gloomy start to what is otherwise a very sunny day. I feel so bad for his family and friends, including people I consider good friends like Snyder and Beet Bowman. When you learn something like this, it shakes you to your core and freezes you for awhile. But I have to get up and get moving.

11:30 a.m. -- Get to visit for the first time in several years with former Bethlehem Catholic coach and athletic director Bob Bukvics, who expresses his dismay and anger at many of the recent decisions his alma mater has made. What strikes me is how passionate Bucky is still about his school.

12:45 p.m. -- Arrive in the neighborhood of Liberty High School only to find mass chaos with police everywhere and streets and parking areas blocked off. I was supposed to cover a signing ceremony for Liberty athletes. But the ceremony never takes place and I spend the next three-plus hours pacing along the sidewalk across the street in front of Liberty with an ever-growing number of parents who are scared, confused and ultimately very angry and frustrated by a lockdown of the school over an alleged person or persons carrying around weapons. They all use their one lifeline -- their cellphone -- to try to find out information which comes in spurts, but is not always accurate and sometimes couldn't have been farther from the truth. I don't have to stay, but I somehow feel I can't leave. So I tweet out what I know and hang with the parents, who grow more impatient by the minute. By now, I am emotionally invested in this and want to see what happens.

4:30 p.m. -- Finally, the Liberty students are released from school and the parents can breathe a collective sigh of relief. The kids I talk to say it was no big deal, but they seem more intent on getting away from the school and in some cases, getting to a bathroom, than lingering any longer than need be. Many of the parents, who were shedding tears earlier, are all smiles now. All involved seemed emotionally drained and simply happy that this weird and unfortunate situation is over.

4:45 p.m. -- Stuck in traffic on the Hill-to-Hill Bridge trying to get from Bethlehem to Center Valley. Now I feel as angry as Bukvics earlier in the day and frustrated like the Liberty parents because nothing is happening very fast. I remind myself never to go this way again.

5:10 p.m. -- Get to Southern Lehigh just in time to see the final outs of another Colonial League softball win by legendary Spartans softball coach Brian Neefe. It's his 720th victory in his amazing 43-year career. On a day that has been nothing but normal or familiar, it is good to see something that hasn't changed.

8:30 p.m. -- Get to talk to Pleasant Valley football coach Jim Terwilliger and hear him tell me about resigning as the Bears football coach because he was furloughed from his teaching position. Terwilliger is drained and gets a little emotional as he talks about how much his players meant to him and how tough it was to say goodbye to a place and kids he loved. He did a nice job at PV and will land somewhere else, no doubt, but you can tell how much these last five years have meant to him.

9:15 p.m. -- I am drained, too, and begin to replay the day and all of its highs and lows in my mind. And then pops in another email and this one tells me that I have been elected to the Dieruff High School Hall of Fame and will be inducted at the school's Kiska Banquet in May.

I feel very good about it, but not for myself.

On a day that had me thinking a lot about the past and what's really important in life, this news had me feeling proud, but also sad that my grandfather, Frank Groller, wasn't still here to see his grandson go into the Hall of Fame of a school that he truly loved. I mean my grandfather loved his wine, he loved Sammy Balliet and Coplay legion baseball and he loved Dieruff High sports and was a season-ticket holder for Husky basketball games for a couple of decades.

He left us on Christmas Day 1992, but somehow, some way, I am hoping that he will still know that the little guy he took to all of those Dieruff sporting events in the 1960s and 1970s will now be honored in the same way the great Ross Moore, Skip Kintz, Jan Kapcala, John Smurda and so many great Huskies have been honored.

When I thought about that, I had to wipe a tear or two from my face.

It was just that kind of day, feeling proud and sad at the same time. It was a day like I haven't had in quite awhile and may never have again.

Dalickas was named the Landmark Conference and Corvais ECAC Division III South player of the week after hitting .692 with nine hits in 13 at-bats during a 6-0 week for the Greyhounds.

She had four extra-base hits including three homers to give her a 1.462 slugging percentage and added 13 RBIs and nine runs scored. On the season, she’s hitting .538 with 20 runs scored, 25 RBIs, and five home runs among her 10 extra-base hits. She has also had just one error among her 98 chances at first base.

“I’ve come a long way since freshman year and worked a lot on inside and outside pitches,” she said. “I’ve been seeing the ball extremely well lately, and I’m glad I have been able to help out my team.”

Dalickas was a successful player at Brandywine, but said it’s a lot different in college.

“There’s no free time to goof off or do homework,” she said. “There’s a lot more time management involved and a lot more on you. Playing softball takes a lot more of a commitment. It takes a while to adjust. But you have just to get comfortable, go with it and have a good time.”

HIGH SCHOOL PLAYER OF THE WEEK

MARIAH KONDRAVY, LIBERTY

After earning Morning Call offensive player of the year accolades the past two seasons, Liberty’s senior slugger Mariah Kondravy said she hopes to end her high school career with a bang.

Seems like that’s not going to be a problem.

In a 15-6 loss to Parkland on Wednesday, Kondravy slugged three home runs. She also homered in the team’s 2-1 season-opening win over Bethlehem Catholic on March 27.

“I’m looking forward to the rest of the season,” she said, noting that Liberty had 18 regular-season games still to play as of Thursday. “It’s going to be very exciting, and stressful, too.”

Stress is exactly what Kondravy puts on opposing pitchers with her smooth, left-handed stroke. Even pitches in a good location have a chance to leave the park.

“I have been lifting a lot of weights to get ready for college,” she said. “I have been working hard.”

“The one home run she hit [against Parkland] I don’t think she even got all of it,” Hurricanes coach Rich Giering said. “She has amazing power and bat speed. She’s in great shape. People don’t realize how strong she is.”

Giering said he’s going to hate to see her leave, but knows that the University of Delaware is going to be happy with her as well as Liberty shortstop Alyshia Dellatore.

“They’re great kids,” he said. “I’m glad we have them the rest of this year.”

A look at The Morning Call's all-area boys basketball team for 2013-14

As player of the year, Central Catholic's Muhammad Ali Abdur-Rahkman is considered a member of The Morning Call's All-Area Team in boys basketball for 2013-14.

Here are the other 10 terrific players and kids who made the cut this year:

JEANLEE BAEZ

Central Catholic, 6-foot-5, Senior, Forward

Averaged 12.8 points and 6.2 rebounds per game and was a major contributor to four District 11 title teams at CCHS along with this year’s Lehigh Valley Conference championship squad. … Finished his career with just under 1,100 points. … Had 23 points against Bethlehem Catholic in the league semis and 25 against the Golden Hawks in the district semis. … Repeats as an all-area first team choice, an all-LVC first team selection and was also selected to the Via “Team of the Year.” … “He has been a leader in our program since he was a freshman and has just has a very charismatic way about him that brings people together,” coach Dennis Csensits said. “He has worked hard at his game and made outstanding improvement.” … Baez is considering several Division II PSAC schools, including Kutztown.

JACOB BATTLE

Stroudsburg, 6-foot, Senior, Guard

Averaged 15.8 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 2.5 steals per game. … A three-year starter who went over the 1,000-point mark in the District 11 4A consolation win over Liberty. Also had the game-winning shot in that game as part of a season-high 29-point effort as the Mounties reached the state tournament for the first time since 1999. … Was a first-team all-MVC selection and a second-team all-area pick last year. … “He showed such steady improvement every year,” coach Shawn Thornton said. “Anything we told him to do to improve he did. Early on in his career, he was a big scorer. He had to learn how to rely on other players and he did and became a great teammate.” … Considering several Division II and III programs including DeSales, Misericordia and East Stroudsburg.

NATE FEIERTAG

Emmaus, 6-foot-4, Senior, Forward

Averaged 16.3 points and 6.8 rebounds this season and finished his career with 874 points. … Was the MVP of the Constitution Christmas tournament in Philadelphia when the Hornets went 3-0. … Was chosen first-team all-LVC and named to the Via “Team of the Year.” … He averaged 15.4 points per game last season when he was a second-team all-area selection. … “Our progress was the highlight of the season,” he said. “We weren’t predicted to go very far but we got into the league tournament and the district finals. We also got into states. I’m very happy with our season.” His overall career highlight was being on a LVC title team as a sophomore. … He is considering several schools including Bloomsburg, DeSales, Muhlenberg, Kutztown and Marywood or may walk-on at Drexel.

DESHAWN OYENIYI

Liberty, 6-foot-4, Senior, Forward

Averaged 18.1 points and 11.9 rebounds per game in repeating as a first-team all-area selection. … In four district games, Oyeniyi averaged 21 points and had career-highs of 29 points and 16 rebounds and a blocked shot on the final possession in a 74-73 win over top-seeded Pocono Mountain West. … He shot 48.7 percent from the field (134-for-275) and 76.3 percent from the free throw line (116-for-152). … “Having Deshawn the last three years has made it a lot easier to coach things on the offensive end,” coach Chad Landis said. “He did a great job scoring the basketball.” … Oyeniyi plans to play in college and is considering several Division II schools, including East Stroudsburg. … He finished his career with 822 points and 541 rebounds.

TANNOR REED

Notre Dame, 6-foot-2, Senior, Guard

Averaged 22.4 points per game and had a stretch of 15 straight games with at least 20 points or more. … Key figure in team’s 13-game win streak and run to the Colonial League and District 11 2A titles. …He scored 31 points in the District 11 2A title game and had 29 in the PIAA first-round loss to Delaware Valley Charter. He shot 48 percent from the floor and finished his career with more than 1,000 points. He also averaged 13.8 rebounds per game during the season and was the Colonial league MVP. … He was a third-team all-area selection last year. … “Tannor was amazing down the stretch,” coach Pat Boyle said. “The big statistic for me was that in the district championship he had 31 points on 17 shots and he had 29 points on 14 shots in the state game. He was a lot more efficient with his shots than people realize.” … Reed hasn’t finalized his college choice, but is leaning toward Misericordia.

NICK RINDOCK

Parkland, 6-foot-3, Senior, Forward

Averaged 14.8 points, six rebounds, two steals and three assists. … Finished his career with 844 points. …Was one of the keys as the Trojans repeated as District 11 4A champs and advanced to the second round of the state tournament for the second straight year. …All-LVC selection. … He had 19 points in the first-round PIAA win over Central Bucks West and 20 in the second-round loss to West Chester Rustin. … Trojans struggled without him when he went out with a sprained ankle and missed three games. … Considering DeSales and Muhlenberg. … “Nick was just a great kid who improved so much since his freshman year,” coach Andy Stephens said. “He’s going to make someone real happy in college because there’s a lot of room for growth. I’m glad he’s going to stay local so we can watch him.”

JEREMY RINGLAND

Bangor, 6-foot-7, Senior, Forward

Averaged 16.7 points per game, had 27 assists, 24 steals and collected 129 rebounds while blocking 110 shots. … Shot 51 percent from 2-point range and was 53-for-133 from 3-point range (40 percent) and was 66 percent at the foul line … He scored 28 points twice — vs. East Stroudsburg North and Palmerton. … He started each of the past two years when the Slaters went 36-13 and won the 2012-13 Colonial League title. … Was a first-team all-Colonial League selection and made the Via “Team of the Year.” … “Jeremy was a big part of us winning our first championship in 25 years and helped to elevate our program,” coach Bron Holland said. “I think his best basketball is in front of him.” … Ringland is uncertain of his college plans.

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BRENDAN WAGNER

Central Catholic, 6-foot-8, Senior, Center

Averaged 8.9 points, 6.8 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game. Shot 64 percent from the field. … Played his first season at CCHS after transferring from Souderton. … Became a major force down the stretch for the Vikings with 21 points on 10-for-12 shooting and eight rebounds in the PIAA 3A second-round win over Bishop McDevitt. He also had 24 points in the 77-63 regular-season win over Parkland. … “Brendan has been a real pleasure to coach,” Csensits said. “I thought just the way he came in and accepted his role spoke volumes about him as a person. He was used to being the leading scorer and rebounder where he was and accepted a role that was not as prominent. You’d be hard-pressed to find many back-to-the-basket post men in the state better than him.” … He is considering several college options.

JOE WIGGINS

Pocono Mountain West, 5-foot-9 Senior, Guard

Averaged 23.5 points per game and had 38 assists, 95 offensive rebounds and 82 defensive boards. … Became the first boys player in school history to score more than 1,000 points and was the Mountain Valley Conference player of the year after leading the Panthers to their fourth straight league title. … Over his career at Pocono West, the team went 83-21 and won five championships overall. … He had a season-high 34 points in a triple-overtime game against Allen. … Shot 50.8 percent from the field, making 21 3-pointers. … Was chosen to the Via “Team of the Year.” … Was a third-team all-area choice last year.

JUSTIN ZAJKO

Parkland, 6-foot-1, Senior, Guard

Averaged 14.9 points, five rebounds, two steals and two assists. … Started already as a freshman and finished his career with over 1,000 points, reaching the milestone in the district quarterfinals against Allen. … First-team all-LVC selection and chosen to the Via “Team of the Year.” … “Justin can play and defend all five positions on the court,” Stephens said. “Justin was mature at a young age and so coachable, a real leader. He was just a real competitive kid who gave us everything he had.” … Was one of three captains along Rindock and Jimmy Hahn. … Among his college options are Cabrini, West Chester, Bloomsburg and DeSales.

A look at the trophies at stake today and the boxscore from Stroudsburg's win over Liberty

What are the teams playing for in the District 11 basketball finals today at Freedom?

Above is a look at the three trophies to be presented to the champs, and, no, those are not hoagies in the wrappers. Those are the gold and silver medals to be awarded:

There were no medals or trophies at stake in the 4A boys consolation game, just a ticket to the PIAA tournament. Stroudsburg (16-11) advanced with a 67-64 victory over Liberty, ending the Hurricanes season at 13-13 and denying Chad Landis' program of reaching states for the eighth time in nine years.

Senior Jacob Battle not only became the 1,000-point scorer in Stroudsburg history, but he also hit the go-ahead jumper with 17 seconds left and sealed the game with a pair of free throws with 1.7 seconds remaining.

Deshawn Oyeniyi was a dynamo for Liberty, scoring 17 of his team-high 24 points in the second half. His desperation, halfcourt heave at the buzzer hit off the backboard.

Liberty, though had 15 turnovers in the second half and the last one cost them a chance to either tie or go-ahead after Battle's jumper gave Stroudsburg a 65-64 lead.

Wednesday night district basketball picks: Staying with the hot hands

In case you haven't noticed, winter is back this week. Bitingly cold temperatures, harsh wind, threat of another storm approaching. You know the nauseating drill by now.

But in boys basketball, several teams have become hot at just the right time and many of them will be in action tonight.

At Whitehall in 2A semis, both Notre Dame and Catasauqua are in action for the first time since their classic Colonial League championship game on Feb. 15.

Before that game, the Crusaders and Rough Riders were as hot as any teams in the area not named Central Catholic.

And, in the 4A semis at Allen, we'll see who stays hot. Parkland has been playing outstanding basketball ever since those back-to-back losses to CCHS and Becahi on Jan.28-29.

Yes, I know the Trojans lost the LVC title game to CCHS, but they led for a good portion of that game and lost by only four. Considering the Vikings' dominance, that CCHS game almost felt like a win for Parkland.

And then there's Liberty, which got help from Spring-Ford and Phoenixville just to get in the game needed to qualify for the District 11 tournament.

Since then the Hurricanes have blown out Whitehall and eliminated No. 1 seed Pocono Mountain West.

It might be only a three-game win streak, but Liberty, too, is hot and playing the way we thought it could play back at the start of the season.

So, here we go with tonight's predictions. And remember, in 2A, the losers are done for the season. In 4A, there will be a consolation game, probably Saturday afternoon at Freedom:

CLASS 2A

Notre Dame 64, Minersville 54 -- Expect the Battlin' Miners to hang around for awhile. Schuylkill League teams love to control tempo, play tough defense, hit the boards and emphasize the fundamentals. Minersville is a young team with just two seniors on the roster and no one taller than 6-foot-3. So you expect Vincent Eze to have another big night with rebounds and blocked shots.

Catasauqua 59, North Schuylkill 56-- Tough, tough draw for the Roughies. Much tougher than last year, when they breezed past Williams Valley in the semis. North Schuylkill is one of three teams to have defeated Mahanoy Area, the top seed in Class A. The Roughies are going to need to control, execute their offense and then hit the boards on defense. Even if it ends tonight, it has been quite a season for Catty since it didn't get its football players untl just before the season opener.

CLASS 4A

Parkland 71, Stroudsburg 59 -- These two met in December and it went to overtime before the Trojans prevailed 59-56. Parkland is playing more consistent basketball at the moment and has its rotation settled. Justin Zajko had 17 in the first meeting against Stroudsburg and I expect him to have another big night. But beware of Stroudsburg's Jacob Battle. He had 27 in the first meeting and is capable of carrying his team again.

Liberty 73, Emmaus 69 -- Before the season began, Liberty's Deshawn Oyeniyi ranked in the top five of area players. For various reasons, he didn't dominate as expected, but he is dominating now and figures to be a handful for Emmaus, which is known to get in foul trouble. I can't explain chemistry or unity or any of that subjective stuff, but it does seem like Liberty has come together since the departure of K.J. Williams. I expect the Hornets to move the ball and hit some big shots. Emmaus was a young team at the start of the season, but head coach Steve Yoder is no longer use the youth as an excuse and neither should anyone else. Should be the best game of the night and might be one of the best of the tournament.

It has been basically blowout city so far in the District 11 boys basketball tournament.

We've had four games played so far decided by an average of 22 points. The closest game was Allen's 10-point win over Easton on Weds. night.

Things are bound to get tighter with the quarterfinals this weekend, although I am not sure Allen's Sewards Gym is the place for the nailbiters tonight when Becahi plays Salisbury and CCHS plays Saucon Valley in a 3A twinbill.

Here are some predictions:

FRIDAY'S GAMES

CLASS A

Notre Dame-East Stroudsburg 60, Moravian Academy 50 -- Not sure if the Lions' all-time leading scorer Luke Gutekunst is playing. If he does, it'll be close. If he doesn't, it won't.

Pius X 61, Marian Catholic 45 -- The Royals clobbered the Colts 68-21 back at the end of January. Closer game this time, but still a convincing Pius win.

Pottsville Nativity 59, Lincoln Leadership 43 -- Lincoln has some talent, but has primarily feasted off of inferior competition. Nativity is a much more polished team and more ready for districts coming out of the rugged Schuylkilll League.

CLASS 3A

Bethlehem Catholic 60, Salisbury 54 -- Neither of these teams looked good the last time I saw them. Becahi was routed by CCHS in the LVC semis and the Falcons were listless against Catty in the Colonial League semis. Becahi has a slight edge in talent, but has been very inconsistent this season. If the Golden Hawks come to play, they'll prevail. Otherwise, Salisbury will win again in the district quarters and this time it won't take a halfcourt shot at the buzzer to do it.

Central Catholic 78, Saucon Valley 60 -- The Panthers performed really well against Northern Lehigh the other night, but Northern Lehigh is not Central Catholic. Saucon should be able to score against CCHS, but not nearly enough to pull a shocker.

Pottsville 59, Lehighton 51 -- The Indians enjoyed themselves the other night against Tamaqua, and no one enjoyed himself more than Jordan Knappenberger, who couldn't miss in scoring 39 points. But the Tide is a little tougher than Tamaqua and another successful Lehighton season will end in the quarters.

Blue Mountain 64, Southern Lehigh 59 -- The Spartans haven't played in two weeks. Sharpness will be a factor here. Solehi has been a hard-to-figure team. They have a shot here, but must play one of their best games of the season to advance.

SATURDAY'S GAME

CLASS 2A

Williams Valley 48, Minersville 43 -- The Vikings have already beaten the Miners twice this season in games played in the 40s. I see a trend developing here.

CLASS 4A

Pocono Mountain West 69, Liberty 65 -- A much more competitive game than a couple of Saturdays ago when the Panthers rolled by 26. The Hurricanes have to get back on defense and slow down the MVC champs. If they make it more of a halfcourt game and play the defense they played against Whitehall, they have a chance of knocking off the No. 1 seed.

Emmaus 63, Bangor 57 -- Both teams didn't end well in their league tournaments. But both are capable of winning here and winning again on Wednesday. Ringland and Feiertag are the keys for their teams.

Parkland 71, Allen 67 -- Their previous meeting went a couple of overtimes and I look for the Canaries to compete hard again. But the Trojans seem to have everything figured out now and look like the team to beat in this bracket.

Stroudsburg 67, ES North 60 -- The Mounties usually rise up and play well at this time of year. Last year, they made it to the semis. A favorable draw makes it likely to happen again.

With the weather fairly nice, at least by comparison to what we've had, get out and enjoy the games.

I will be tweeting from Allen tonight @KeithGroller.

Follow along if you can't get out to the games. Tomorrow night at Easton will be much more difficult, however, for tweeting purposes.

The Easton Middle School is simply not social media-friendly, but we'll try our best.

The high school boys basketball player of the week: Liberty's Jaevan Dobbins

Liberty coach Chad Landis said that every year “you look for kids in your program who are going to make that jump from being a sophomore JV player to a junior varsity player. … and it’s a tough jump to make.”

But the Hurricanes’ Jaevan Dobbins, a 6-foot-2 swingman, has successfully made that jump and has become one of the steadying influences in a Liberty season that has had its share of ups and downs.

Dobbins (No. 11 at left) scored 17 points in the ‘Canes’ 58-38 District 11 4A preliminary-round win over Whitehall and has scored in double figures in 14 straight games. He will be a factor again in Saturday night’s 4A quarterfinal against Pocono Mountain West.

“You’ll see kids who as juniors are trying to feel their way, but Jaevan went from being strictly a JV guy last year to an honorable mention choice in our league,” Landis said. “That says a lot about his work-ethic, his love of basketball, his commitment to what we’re trying to do around here. He’s very coachable. He has been terrific and I’m as happy for his success as I am for anybody.”

Dobbins still sees himself as just a role player.

“Deshawn Oyeniyi is still our leading scorer and I just try to help where I can,” he said. “I didn’t think I’d be able to contibute as much as I have. I just try to play hard and play my role every day.”

Liberty's win over Phoenixville puts Hurricanes in the District 11 4A tourney

Just in the nick of time, Liberty got in the game -- and win -- it needed to qualify for the District 11 4A tournament.

The Hurricanes defeated Phoenixville on Wednesday afternoon, 49-45. Jaevon Dobbins had another big game with 20 points and 12 rebounds and Deshawn Oyeniyi was solid with 15 points and 12 rebounds.

The win puts Liberty at 11-11 and keeps alive the program's streak of qualifying for the district tournament, now nine straight years.

Liberty, the No. 9 seed, will play at No. 8 Whitehall when the District 11 4A tournament begins Wednesday with preliminary-round games. The other Wednesday night matchup in 4A will have No. 10 Easton playing at No. 7 Allen.

Yasso-Rothrock Christmas City Classic Saturday schedule

There has been some confusion out there about the start times for Saturday's games in the Christmas City Classic at Bethlehem Catholic, Liberty and Freedom. I admit to being one of those confused because I was told the first games were starting at 1:30. That is not the case. Here's the official times from Fred Harris, chairperson for Lehigh Valley Conference basketball:

It's one of the best programs in the area; consistent title contenders now for eight years now. In fact, over the last eight years, Liberty is a combined 164-65 and has made the state tournament seven times.

And when I got to the gym door, I found myself outside with one of the many great athletes to shine at Liberty over this glorious eight-year run the basketball program has experienced -- new JV coach Trevor Van Ackeren.

I watched him conduct the JV practice and I sense a rising star in the coaching ranks with Van Ackeren, who was an All-American and Ivy League champ in track at Princeton.

Van Ackeren was a very good guard in his basketball career at Liberty and the Hurricanes could use the savvy and hustle he brought to the position this year after the graduation of several quality guards who delivered in last year's LVC title season.

Here's a closer look:

LIBERTY

Coach: Chad Landis (6th season, 99-40)

Last year: 19-9, 10-4 LVC.

Postseason: Beat CCHS 53-45, and Parkland 66-48 in LVC tournament. Lost to Parkland 62-59 in District 11 4A semis, but rebounded to beat Stroudsburg 66-53 in consolation game. Lost to Williamsport in state tournament.

What's to like: Landis likes having two key guys back in Oyeniyi (making a block at right) and Williams. They averaged 14.6 and 11.4 points per game respectively last year. But he also likes having a lot of unknowns who are looking to prove themselves. "The rest is a bunch of guys who have little or no varsity experience," Landis said. "There's going to be some struggles early I am sure, but these kids are excited to get a chance to play at the varsity level. There's a handful of guys fighting to earn some spots."

What's to worry about: The lack of experience at the guard position and the lack of proven depth overall. "We're going to need our guards to play well for us to be good," Landis said. "We've got some key guys who we know we need to get the ball to, but we need to get five guys on the same page. We need to defend as a group, we need to play in the halfcourt as a group. That kind of meshing in an important situation is going to be a key."

Quotable: "I think we're going to be competitive," Landis said. "But there's going to be a handful of close games and we're going to need to get that experience quick. The league is really going to be competitive this year. Central is probably No. 1 and then you've got Parkland and Becahi and a couple of other teams right behind them. We always say we want to be in that group that's right behind the leaders and chasing them. Early in the year, there will be other teams that will be better than us from an expereince standpoint. But we hope to close the gap as the season goes on. Our goals are always the same. We want to play in meaningful games at the end of the year and that means league, district and state playoffs."

Everybody will play everybody in its own division for eight games and will have two cross-divison games. That hasn't changed.

But when those cross-division games will occur has changed. We were told those cross-division games would all be in blocks in weeks 6 and 7 or 7 and 8.

Now, however, things have been revised and a whole block of cross-division games has been moved up to Week 1, which, next year, will be Aug. 29-30. This was done to insure that everyone would have an equal number of home and away games. Former Northampton AD Mike Schneider is the scheduler and has done a masterful job laying things out.

Those Week 1 matchups will be:

Friday, Aug. 29

Bethlehem Catholic at Liberty

Whitehall at PM West

Easton at Pleasant Valley

Freedom at ES South

Stroudsburg at Nazareth

Parkland at Dieruff

ES North at Emmaus

Saturday Aug. 30

PM East at Central Catholic

Allen at Northampton

And then the other nine cross-division matchups will be interspersed throughout the course of the season, one per week.

Although there is still a small chance things could change again, it looks like this for the other cross-division contests:

Week 2: Liberty at Allen

Week 3: Whitehall at Pleasant Valley

Week 4: PM West at Parkland

Week 5: Easton at ES South

Week 6: Dieruff at Freedom

Week 7: Nazareth at ES North

Week 8: PM East at Emmaus

Week 9: Northampton at Stroudsburg

Week 10: Bethlehem Catholic at Central Catholic

As we said earlier, these cross-division pairings will change every two years with the exception of Becahi and CCHS who will meet each season.

The NFL Network will air its latest in the "A Football Life" series next week and this one will have special interest around here since it will feature the career and life of Whitehall and Penn State product Matt Millen.

It includes an interview with his former Whitehall High coach Andy Melosky.

The show debuts at 9 p.m. Tuesday on the The NFL Network and will likely have additional airings.

Also, you don't want to miss a special show entitled "Villanova Greatness Past and Present." It features what took place last night at the SteelStacks, a fundraiser for the Christmas City Classic high school basketball event that annually honors the memory of George Yasso and Todd Rothrock.

The presentation features a 30-minute Q-and-A with former Liberty High star and current Villanova standout Darrun Hilliard. I participated in the Q-and-A on stage with Mike Zambelli and Liberty coach Chad Landis.

That was followed by a very interesting, entertaining hour-long discussion on the 1985 Villanova national championship victory. Longtime Sports Illustrated writer and noted author Jack McCallum led the discussion with four former players and those four were very impressive speakers as they recounted that magical night when Villanova almost couldn't miss in knocking off a heavily-favored Georgetown team in Lexington, Ky.

It was well done

That show will air on Service Electric TV2 at 8 p.m. Tuesday and again at 9:30 on Wednesday night.

Finally, PBS39 will have a repeat showing of its Emmy-nominated documentary "Football Legends of Pennsylvania" at 9 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 13. The documentary is based on the critically-acclaimed book written by local sports historian Evan Burian and features interviews with Chuck Bednarik, Andre Reed and other Keystone State football legends.

Two Chuck Bednarik ceremonies planned for Liberty on Friday

Chuck Bednarik will be honored in two separate ceremonies on Friday at Liberty High School with the second one culminating in the unveiling of a statue of "Concrete Charlie" at Bethlehem Area School District Stadium.

The first ceremony will take place inside Memorial Gym at 12:30 on Friday afternoon. A plaque will dedicated at that ceremony.

The second ceremony will occur at 6:30 during the pregame of the Lehigh Valley Conference game between Central Catholic and the host Liberty Hurricanes.

Liberty athletic director Fred Harris confirmed the ceremonies and said that Bednarik's statue will be unveiled on the Greenadier Blvd. side of the stadium in the corner by the home stands.

The ceremonies are being held in conjunction with the Pro Football Hall of Fame's "Hometown Hall of Famer" program, according to Harris. Allstate Insurance is the sponsoring partner.

According to the Hall of Fame's website, this is the Hall of Fame's first nationwide plaque program and will lead into the celebration of the Hall's upcoming 50th anniversary in 2013.

"Honoring the hometowns that helped create the foundation for Hall of Famers' pathway to the Hall will be truly special as these plaques will live forever in their hometown communities," said George Veras, Pro Football Hall of Fame Enterprises president and CEO. "The Hall of Fame is pleased that Allstate has recognized the significance of this program and given all of us - the players, their communities and the Pro Football Hall of Fame - a chance to celebrate the hometown stories of these legendary professional football players."

The Pro Football Hall of Fame and Allstate will honor a total of 90 Hall of Famers through 2014.

Following each presentation, the plaques will live permanently at a designated local venue in the Hall of Famer's hometown community. In addition to the plaque, each community will receive two commemorative Hometown Hall of Famer™ road signs to proudly display in their hometowns.

Bednarik attended Liberty High School in the early 1940s. After graduation, he entered the US Air Forces and served from 1942-46 and then was a two-time All-American at the University of Pennsylvania before embarking on a storied 14-year NFL career with the Eagles from 1949-62. He helped the Eagles win NFL titles in 1949 and '60. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1967.

Bednarik, now 88 and living in Coopersburg, is expected to attend both ceremonies.

BASD to consider naming football pressbox for a special man

The following is from Margie Peterson's Bethlehem school board meeting story, and I will just add that I think this would be a deserving honor for a guy who loved being a part of the scene and was very dedicated to the athletes of Bethlehem. When you went to a game at BASD, whether it was a Freedom, Liberty or Bethlehem Catholic game, you knew you were going to see Lenny and he was going to be happy to be there, would joke around with you and would pay closer attention to the game than anyone in the place.

Now the story::

For 35 years, the late Leonard “Lenny” Capuano served as the official timer at Bethlehem Area School District Stadium, rarely missing a Friday or Saturday night game.

For his dedication, the school board will consider naming the stadium’s press section “The Leonard A. Capuano Press Section.”

The request for the dedication came from Capuano’s family, who told the district they would pay the cost of any plaque and dedication ceremony. Capuano died in February at age 80.

“Ask any of the old-timers, members of the coaching staffs, or the press who still frequent Bethlehem Area School District games about my dad and they will surely talk about his dedication and knowledge of the games,” said Michele Capuano Staves in a letter.

The district’s administration supports the idea, according to Mark Stein, director of facilities and operations.

School directors discussed the proposal Monday at a facilities committee meeting, with some pointing out that they have to be careful about such honors because the district has so many dedicated volunteers and staff.

School Director Bill Burkhardt said he believes Lenny Capuano deserves the recognition for all his service and added that there might be other families who have a loved one they would like the district to consider honoring in a similar fashion.

The plaque for Capuano would be placed in interior section of the press box. No decision was made on going forward but board members plan to discuss it further in the future.

Dieruff upsets Parkland; set to face CCHS for Stellar Summer League title

Dieruff stunned Parkland 51-47 and Central Catholic rolled past Liberty 59-44 to set up a rematch in the Stellar Summer High School Boys Basketball League championship.

The Huskies beat the Vikings in last August's title game and will face each other again at 7 p.m. Thursday night at Cedar Beach for this year's league championship. If rain intervenes, the game will be moved inside to Muhlenberg College.

Matt Riddick led Dieruff with 14 points. Parkland had been the No. 2 seed entering the league playoffs and was also the recent SportsFest tournament champion.

Brian McCarthy and Bryce Maley each scored 14 points to lead Central to its win over Liberty.

The Vikings are capping a strong summer that has seen them reach the final four of both the Stellar and SportsFest tournaments.

Parkland, CCHS, Dieruff and Liberty are Stellar Summer League winners

As expected, Parkland and Central Catholic, the top two seeds, advanced with wins on Tuesday night in the quarterfinals of the Stellar Summer High School Boys Basketball League playoff tournament at Cedar Beach.

Based on Stellar, SportsFest tourneys, who should be looking forward to winter?

It's been a couple of days now and I think the Cedar Beach withdrawal is starting to kick in. After my annual eight days in 11 stretch at Cedar Beach (with some rain-related side trips to Parkland and Muhlenberg thrown in), I needed two days to decompress, do some other things and get the basketball out of my system.

Before I look ahead to the winter and give you a list of my top 10 coming out of the Stellar/SportsFest weekends, I want to thank both staffs for making those eight days among my favorites of the entire year.

Some people really get into the rivalry between the tournaments and the formats and the personalities involved, but I've got to say that I spend a lot of time with both staffs over these eight nights each summer and there are a lot of terrific people who work hard to make these tournaments happen.

Frankly, I have a good time with both of them and admire the work that goes into pulling this stuff off, especially when the rain comes and everything is uprooted to a different location. If I had a youngster who was interested in running his or her own business one day, I'd want them to come down to Cedar Beach and see how these staffs pull off these tournaments because there's a tremendous amount of teamwork in play both weekends.

The fans, the refs, the teams, the media just show up, but there is a lot of preparation that goes on and these staffs pull it off seamlessly.

I enjoy everyone, people like Tommy Malone, Bob Wootsick, Jay Radio, John Hrebik, Toomey Anderson, Randy Atiyeh, Matt Zwetolitz and the list goes on and on.

But a special shout-out to the guys who I work mostly close with -- Bob Trinkle and Andy McGeehin.

The tournaments wouldn't be the same without these two. They both have a lot on their plate and yet, they handle their jobs with efficiency and grace. Trinkle may be a little louder than McGeehin, but both are fun to be around and keep me laughing as well as typing up score after score after score both weekends. They are the best at what they do and I greatly appreciate their help.

Thanks to everyone on both staffs for a good time, as well as a lot of good hoops.

Now, on to the top 10 area winners coming out of the Stellar/SportsFest weekends:

1. Parkland -The Trojans are the only ones to win a tournament championship and showed at equal rest what they could do against quality teams on Sunday. Nick Rindock, Justin Zajko and Jimmy Hahn are going to be the leaders, but this team possesses more depth than in the past and if the big guys like Nick Selvaggi and Alex Mitton keep producing, there's no reason why this team can't make it two District 11 4A titles in a row.

2. Central Catholic - The one disappointment is that we never got to see Parkland and CCHS play on either weekend, but maybe that's good because it heightens the anticipation for when they play next winter. That game will be at Rockne Hall and it should be a dandy. The Vikings made it to the semis of both tournaments without Muhammad Ali Abdur-Rahkman and didn't have Jean Lee Baez Saturday or Sunday this past weekend. Impressive team that seems to have all the pieces in place for a run at Hershey.

3. Allen -- The Canaries got to Sunday in both tournaments and might have gone a little deeper if they were at full strength. Instead they were missing some key guys. The key here is that Doug Snyder has a much better group of kids who will not cause distractions. There's going to be a gap between Parkland, CCHS and the rest of the Lehigh Valley Conference. But Allen belongs in the mix of potential LVC division winners and district title contenders.

4. Bethlehem Catholic -- Like Allen, the Golden Hawks got to Sunday both weekends and while they didn't last until late Sunday afternoon you can see that this team was not content with just getting to the district final and the state playoffs last year. This is a team with talent, especially Freddie Simmons who should be among the area's top scorers. The Golden Hawks used to be a clearcut choice at No. 4 in a division that includes Liberty, Freedom and Easton. Right now, they might be the favorite to win the East next winter.

5. Salisbury -- When they had the legion baseball players available and everyone intact, the Falcons showed that they might be the best team in the Colonial League this coming winter. This team is loaded with athleticism, toughness and experience. Notre Dame with Vincent Eze and Wilson with Phil Pierfy will also be major factors in the Colonial South next winter, but Salisbury might be the best team.

6. Pocono Mountain West -- The Panthers remind me of a song by country singer Toby Keith. They're not as good as they once were, but they're as good once as they ever were. Which means I don't think the 2013-14 West team will be as consistently good as some of Brad Pensyl's most recent teams, including the 2011-12 district champs. However, they can beat anyone in the area on a given night thanks to the ability of Joe Wiggins.

7. Pius X -- The Royals were not in the SportsFest tournament, so they get this rating based on their strong showing in the Stellar. I believe the Royals have some special talent (Ewing, Marburty etc) and if they can stay focused through their independent schedule -- not easy to do since being in a league gives you something more immediate and tangible to compete for -- they have an opportunity to win districts and perhaps advance a round or two, or maybe even three or four, in the state tournament.

8. Liberty -- The defending Lehigh Valley Conference champs are going to be a little off the radar screen this coming winter because of Parkland and CCHS, but there's lots of talent here. Deshawn Oyeniyi may be the most consistent double-double guy in the area. The Hurricanes were still around on Sunday of both tournaments and I think they will be around again come playoff time next February and March.

9. Southern Lehigh -- It's clear that of all the new coaches in the area, Ben Tannous inherited the best situation and will have the smoothest transition. The Spartans showed enough ability both weekends to indicate that they will be a factor in the Colonial League in the coming season. Bangor, Notre Dame, Salisbury and Wilson may still rank as the CL favorites, but I don't think Solehi will have to sweat out qualifying for districts.

10. Emmaus -- Back-to-back JV titles may not mean as much for the 2013-14 season as it does for 2014-15 for the Green Hornets, but clearly there's talent in the pipeline here. The Kachelries brothers in particular bode well for this program's future. The LVC West division will be loaded next winter with Central Catholic, Allen and an improved Dieruff team all formidable. But certainly the future is bright for this program.

If I was to extend this list to 12, I'd probably include Freedom and Lehighton. Hard to get a read on the Patriots without Nigel Long this weekend and the Indians are clearly better than they used to be. However, at some point, they need to learn how to close out games. Until that happens, it's SOL -- Same old Lehighton.

Yencho said she's leaving Liberty girls basketball program in good shape

Amy Yencho coached the Liberty girls basketball team in two different tournaments on Wednesday, but she also revealed that she's resigning to become an assistant coach at DeSales University.

She couldn't be reached for comment on Wednesday night, but said on Thursday that coaching college basketball was always one of her goals. Yet, she is pleased with the eight years she spent at Liberty.

"I spent eight years at Liberty and worked my way up the ladder," she said. "These past three years as varsity coach I've really enjoyed. The kids are great. There's a lot of potential there. So I know I am leaving with the Liberty program continuing to be competitive and I know those girls are going to do some good things. They will be competitive for the next several years."

She was excited about what happened on Wednesday when her team reached the finals of two summer tournaments, winning the Holy Family event in Nazareth and coming up short to Northampton in the Catty League finals.

"We won one and just ran out of gas in the other," Yencho, a 2000 Liberty grad, said. "We faced some very good competition we don't normally see in the Holy Family tournament. I was pleased with how hard the girls worked for me. I didn't want the girls to find out until the last day that I was leaving."

Yencho was Liberty's freshman coach for three seasons and the JV coach for two before moving up to the varsity ranks to replace Sam Senneca in 2010.

Her teams made it to the district tournament three straight years and even won a state playoff game in 2012.

"I took something positive from all three years," she said. "Even when we were supposed to be down, we made it to districts. That middle year when we beat Cardinal O'Hara in the first round of states was definitely one to remember."

Yencho, who is a chemist at Puritan Products, is looking forward to being reunited with Fred Richter at DeSales.

"I have been fortunate to coach at both of my alma maters," she said. "It was a good experience at Liberty, but I am very lucky to be able to go back to DeSales."

The Hurricanes won the Holy Family tournament title in Nazareth, beating CCHS 44-43 in the semis and Scranton Prep 49-44 in the finals, and then lost 48-43 to Northampton in the Catasauqua League finals.

Liberty also lost its head coach.

Athletic director Fred Harris confirmed on Wednesday night that Amy Yencho has resigned after three years in charge of the Hurricanes. She will be an assistant on Fred Richter's staff with the DeSales University women's program.

Yencho coached the team in both tournaments on Wednesday and her kids played hard for her in her final day in charge.

Her teams went 45-33, including 14-10 last season (8-6 in the LVC). The Hurricanes reached the District 11 tournament in all three seasons of Yencho's tenure, and made it to the state tournament twice.

Liberty made it to the district semifinals in 2011, to the title game in 2012 and the quarterfinals this past year.

Yencho replaced Sam Senneca, who spent just one year on the bench after John Tone resigned after 23 seasons in charge.

Yencho's best season was the 2011-12 season when her team went 17-10 and reached the second round of the state tournament after a riveting 40-39 first-round win over Cardinal O'Hara.

Yencho graduated from Liberty in 2000 and DeSales in 2004.

"While we're very sad to see her go, we see this as a great opportunity for Amy," Harris said. "She did a tremendous job for us and we're very happy for her. But it's bittersweet because she was a good coach and we're going to miss her. We wish her all the best. Our kids played hard for her today. She wanted to finish the summer and she did."

Harris said the search for a new coach starts immediately. The job will be posted on Thursday.

To me, it is still a flawed process, and some deserving names are still being missed, but I give credit to the Pennsylvania High School Softball Coaches Association for attempting to release an all-state team every year.

Fortunuately, I saw the e-mail chain just in time last week to get a few of our girls nominated and several, but not all of the ones I nominated, received honors.

In Class 4A, our pitcher of the year, Northampton's Marly Laubach and Liberty's Mariah Kondravy, our player of the year received first-team honors.

And Liberty's Alyshia Dellatore was placed on the second team.

Laubach, who will be a preferred walk-on at Penn State, led her team to the District 11 4A title with a 22-3 record, 14 shutouts, three no-hitters, compiled a 0.35 ERA and recorded a school-record 264 strikeouts. She allowed just nine earned runs all season. She was 22-3. She pitched 181 innings. She was the Morning Call's pitcher of the year.

Kondravy, a junior first baseman, repeated as player of the year. She hit .603, up from .517 last season, and had seven home runs, 20 extra-base hits overall, 34 RBIs and 32 runs scored in leading the Hurricanes back to the District 11 4A title game. She had 41 hits in 68 at-bats.

Dellatore is a Delaware recruit. She hit .438 with 15 extra-base hits, including three home runs, 24 RBIs and 18 runs scored. She had 28 hits in 64 at-bats.

We'll get to our 3A and 2A honorees later today, but here is the complete 4A all-state squad:

There's lots of NFL programming out there. There are NFL shows on constantly, usually studio shows breaking down a team's depth on the offensive line or who's playing quarterback, etc.

But this one caught my eye.

Pro Football Talk, NBC Sports Network’s daily NFL show co-hosted by Mike Florio and Erik Kuselias, is creating a series called “Faces of the Franchise; Who’s on Your Team’s Mount Rushmore?” -- to determine the four most influential people in the history of each NFL team.

Coverage begins Monday at 5 p.m. on NBC Sports Network and continues through the end of the month. Over the course of 19 episodes, Florio, Kuselias, regular Pro Football Talk analysts and guest related to that day’s highlighted team will discuss, debate and ultimately select their own Mount Rushmore for each team, from among players, coaches, owners and executives. In addition, fans will have the opportunity to vote on ProFootballTalk.com for their own selections.

“The process of identifying 12 finalists for each team has been very difficult. For many teams, cutting the field to four will be nearly impossible. But we’ll do it, and plenty of fans will call us idiots,” said Florio, the creator of Pro Football Talk and ProFootballTalk.com. “Fortunately, the fans also vote on their own final four for each team. We won’t call them idiots, but we may think it based on their selections.”

Pro Football Talk’s “Faces of The Franchise; Who’s on Your Team’s Mount Rushmore?” will kick off with segments devoted to two NFC East teams, the Dallas Cowboys and Washington Redskins. The series will conclude on June 28 with the six-time Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers.

But it got me thinking about local high school sports and who's on each school's Mount Rushmore?

I did something similiar a few years ago when I asked the question, who comes to mind when you think of a certain school, and I generally came up with six, seven or even more star athletes and coaches from each school. Narrowing it down to four is much more difficult.

Becahi turns back Freedom 3-2; advances to third straight LVC title game

It was closer than many expected, but Bethlehem Catholic advanced to its third straight Lehigh Valley Conference softball championship game with a 3-2 semifinal victory over Freedom on Monday night at Pates Park.

Senior Joelle Morey tossed a six-hitter, but had to work out of a jam in the top of the seventh inning before she could celebrate another trip to the finals.

Becahi (19-2) will face either Emmaus or Northampton at 7 p.m. Thursday.

Lauren Visconti opened the scoring with a home run in the bottom of third.

Freedom came back to tie it in the top of the fourth when Becca Herman singled and scored on a triple by Carly Deichman.

Becahi regained the lead in the fourth when Courtney DuPont reached on an error and scored on Joelle Morey's two-out single. The Golden Hawks tacked on a run in the fifth when Marissa Merriman reached on an infield hit and scored on Courtney DuPont's two-out single.

Becahi took the 3-1 lead into the seventh, but Freedom (14-7) didn't go quietly.

The Patriots, making their first LVC tournament appearance, bunched together three hits, getting an RBI single by Megan Brown.

With two out and two on, Morey got a called third strike on Alexis Szaro to end the game.

Morey struck out nine and didn't walk any.

Freedom's regular starting pitcher Emily Gundrum was unavailable because of back and hip issues.

In her place, Kelsey Brandle and Shayla Peterson pitched well and the Patriots defense made just one error.

"It was a really good effort," said Nora Borger, Freedom's first-year coach. "We took too many called third strikes. That's something we're going to have to work on to get ready for districts."

Bethlehem native Steve Meilinger voted into College Football Hall of Fame

Steve Meilinger, who was born in Bethlehem and played at Liberty High School for John Butler from 1945 to 1948, has been voted into the National Football Foundation College Hall of Fame.

Meilinger will be one of 12 first-team All-American players and two legendary coaches to form the 2013 NFF FBS Subdivision induction class. They will be inducted at the 56th NFF Annual Awards Dinner on December 10, 2013, at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City. They will be honored guests at the National Hall of Fame Salute at the Allstate Sugar Bowl in New Orleans on January 2, 2014 and officially enshrined in the summer of 2014.

Meilinger, a 1949 Liberty grad, first attended Fork Union Military Academy in Virginia. He then played at the University of Kentucky for the legendary Paul "Bear" Bryant and was a NEA All-American at three different positions -- end, quarterback and halfback -- in three different seasons.

As a senior, he was a consensus All-American.

He was drafted by the Washington Redskins as a first-round pick in 1954, but went into the military and didn't return to Washington until 1956. He played for the Redskins for two seasons and then was traded to Green Bay and played for the Packers for three seasons, including the 1960 NFL Championship Game, and finished his career in Pittsburgh. In six seasons, he had 60 receptions for 863 yards and eight touchdowns.

District 11 basketball postponement and predictions

The District 11 doubleheader scheduled for tonight at Stroudsburg has been postponed and moved to Wednesday night. Same times. That's the one featuring the Lincoln Leadership vs. Pius X boys in the Class A opener at 6 and the Bangor vs. Pocono Mountain West girls in the 4A nightcap.

Now, here are my semifinal boys predictions:

TONIGHT

CLASS 3A

Central Catholic 70, Salisbury 52 -- The Falcons have enough offensive weapons to keep it competitive for awhile, and Salisbury will probably put Justin Aungst on Jeanlee Baez inside after Aungst did such a good job on Wilson's Phil Pierfy the other night. But I think the Vikings have too many weapons, including the LVC's MVP Muhammad Ali Abdur-Rahkman.

Pottsville 51, Becahi 45 -- The Golden Hawks have come a long way this season and they will be in this game until the end. However, I just think the Tide's defense might be a little too difficult to solve, and Pottsville is a little more used to these big games.

CLASS A

Pius X 66, Lincoln Leadership 51 -- I actually covered the first meeting between these two back in January in Roseto. While Lincoln was coming off a big upset win over Dieruff and was kinda flat, I saw the Royals as clearly the better team that night and have no reason to think this meeting will be any different.

Mahanoy Area 48, Marian 43 -- A good, old-fashioned Schuylkill League showdown. Don't expect either team to get to 50. I will go with veteran coach Mickey Holland and the Bears.

TOMORROW

CLASS 4A

Liberty 61, Parkland 56 -- Parkland was super-hot in the first meeting and not-so hot in the second in the LVC final. The Trojans must be close to super-hot to have a chance in this one. Liberty dodged a bullet against Emmaus. The Hurricanes didn't play well at all, and didn't shoot particularly well. I can't imagine them having a second straight clunker.

Freedom 56, Stroudsburg 52 -- I have great respect for Shawn Thornton and the Mountaineers. They have been very impressive in beating Whitehall and Pocono Mountain West in this tourney, but I've been on Freedom all year. After finally finding a way to finish off an opponent and get a big win, I see the Patriots as being more confident than ever. Battle and Clowney are tough for the Mounties, but as long as Freedom stays out of foul trouble, I think Joe Stellato and Co. are going to the district final.

CLASS 2A

Catasauqua 49, Williams Valley 44 -- Tough one because I just don't know how much rust the Roughies have after such a long layoff. They were playing as well as anyone before this nearly three-week gap in games. These Schuylkill League teams are all tough, and play great defense. It won't be easy, but I think Catty finds a way.

Notre Dame 53, North Schuylkill 48 -- The Crusaders at least got a game in during the Colonial League tournament and haven't had quite the gap between games. It's another close one. Eze gives Notre Dame a force inside, but it's still going to come down to the outside shooting for Pat Boyle's crew.

Five things to take away from this past weekend's District 11 boys quarterfinal-round games

I said the other day that the quarterfinal round of districts can be either classics or clunkers, but the four games I saw over the weekend were definitely leaning toward the classic side.

The best offensive game I probably saw was the girls game between Minersville and Salisbury when the Battlin' Miners and Falcons combined for 110 points without going to overtime and three different players scored 17 points or more, topped by the 24 registered by Falcons sophomore Meagan Eripret.

But in terms of the boys games, we saw three close ones and some tough endings for Wilson, Easton and Emmaus.

Here's what I'll take away the most from what I saw and what happened around the district in boys bsaketball:

1. It's absolutely a difficult task to have to beat the same team over and over again. Take nothing away from the victories by Salisbury over Wilson and Stroudsburg over Pocono Mountain West, but if you give quality teams multiple chances against the same opponent, they're eventually going to get one. That's why you see so few sweeps in the NBA playoffs.

2. It is far better to keep playing on a regular schedule than have a layoff. The one exception to this rule was Central's absolute blowout over Tamaqua. Rust is not going to come into play when simply one team is so much better than the other. But Liberty was definitely affected by not playing in over a week and I am sure Pocono Mt. West was probably bothered by it as well, although Brad Pensyl didn't use it as an excuse. It will be interesting to see what the caliber of play is in those 2A boys games on Wednesday night since everybody involved has had long layoffs. Catty, for example, will have had a layoff of nearly three weeks. Scrimmaging and practicing is one thing. Going against another opponent in a real game is quite another.

3. The frustration of Easton coach Jim Hutnik. He was bitterly disappointed that his team lost on Saturday night and didn't get to the district semis after going all of the way to the state quarters a year ago, which means his team played three weeks deeper into the season last March. Throw in the fact that Easton didn't make the league tournament either and the fact that Hutnik was deeply saddened by the passing of his former coach Stan Sutphen and you could sense the stress Hutnik was feeling. He is an old-school guy and some of the new-school attitudes and him simply don't jive. He had several discipline-type issues this season, and some kids either simply didn't want to play or transferred. You wonder how long a guy like Hutnik can hang in there battling against the raging tide of the "It's All About Me" generation.

4. The heartbreak for Wilson coach Bob Frankenfield. I'm not saying there's not heartbreak involved for players, but they will go on to their AAU teams in a few weeks and possibly college careers and their high school seasons become distant memories fairly quick -- at least for a lot of them. But coaches put their hearts and souls into their jobs, almost 24/7 and almost 12 months a year now. When Frankenfield isn't coaching his own team, he's out scouting. I see him more than any other coach, so you know how heartbreaking it must feel to have a 22-win season end in an instant like it did on Friday night. It was a very difficult interview with him on Friday, even for 30-year veterans like me and Bruce Buratti of the Express-Times and for a veteran coach like Frankenfield. He doesn't want to say much in a situation like that and we understand that. In fact, he would have preferred if he didn't have to talk to us at all. It's just a necessary evil in both of our jobs. We got through it. But it just wasn't fun.

5. Dan Reichenbach's 35-foot shot at buzzer to give Salisbury that stunning win over Wilson. It will take its place in district history along with moments like Jerry Lloyd's bomb that gave Whitehall the district title in five overtimes over Parkland back in 1997 or Adam Kaunitz's shot for Emmaus that ended Parkland's unbeaten season in 2002 or going way back to 1987 and Tom Kresge's game-winner for Lehighton with a second left to beat defending state champ Central Catholic in the district finals at Stabler Arena. I had to watch it on replay several times on Saturday just to see it again to believe it. When it first happens, you're so stunned that you don't see everything. But on the replay, I witnessed the celebration and the piling on of Salisbury players and the sheer joy of everyone connected to the Falcons. It reminded me of what high school sports are all about.

Boxes from when Wilson and Bangor and Parkland and Liberty met during the regular season

It should be two interesting matchups tonight when Wilson and Bangor meet at Freedom and Parkland and Liberty square off at Easton for the Colonial League and LVC championships.

I am not ignoring the Mountain Valley Conference either, but just think that one holds less mystery. Pocono Mountain West has been the class of that league all season long and should win that game against Pleasant Valley tonight.

As for the Colonial League and LVC games, there are two variables at play here.

One is the fact that Bangor was missing several key guys from the first meeting, and yet, played Wilson tough.

Some suggest that Wilson tends to play down to the level of compettion and when the Warriors knew the Slaters were missing four key guys on Jan. 18 at Bill Pensyl Gym, they kind of lost focus and that's why the game was closer than it should have been. I am not sure about that.

In the LVC, the key variable was Parkland's remarkable shooting the first time around. The Trojans were lights out. Astin Jones was superb coming off the bench. Parkland will have to shoot well again to win this one tonight, maybe not as well as last time, but very well, because Liberty is a better team than it was in that first meeting when it played without Deshawn Oyeniyi.

I am on record as predicting Bangor and Liberty wins tonight. We'll see what happens. What I do know is that whoever loses the Colonial League game will be bitterly disappointed because the Slaters have waited 25 years and Wilson hasn't lost in more than two months. I know that whoever loses the Liberty-Parkland game will also be disappointed, however, both of those teams are more than capable of bouncing back and making a strong run in districts.

Here's a look back at the previous meetings between Wilson and Bangor and Parkland and Liberty:

LVC boys basketball tournament field is set thanks to Freedom win over Liberty

Brian Uliana's 3-pointer in the final minute broke a 47-47 tie and Freedom went on to defeat Liberty 52-47 today at Freedom to put the Patriots into the Lehigh Valley Conference tournament.

Then after the game a coin flip was held to determine the third and fourth seeds. Liberty and Freedom both ended the regular season at 10-4 in the league and with the same divisional record.

Freedom won the coin flip as well, meaning the Patriots will be the No. 3 seed and play No. 2 seed Parkland in the LVC semis on Wednesday night at Easton Middle School, while Liberty, as the No. 4 seed, draws No. 1 seed Central Catholic on Wednesday.

The Parkland-Freedom game will be played first at 6 p.m. with the Central Catholic-Liberty game to follow at about 7:30.

Here's the boxscore from the exciting Liberty-Freedom that was played in front of a large, enthusiastic crowd:

Three key LVC boys basketball schedule changes

When it comes to deciding who's in and who's out of the Lehigh Valley Conference boys basketball tournament, three games that were scheduled for Friday are of paramount importance. And all three games have been changed.

The Central Catholic at Emmaus game is still on Friday, but has been moved up to a 5:30 varsity start time.

Likewise, the Becahi at Easton boys game is still on Friday, but has also been moved to a 5:30 start.

The Liberty at Freedom game has been moved from Friday to Saturday afternoon and is now a 2 p.m. start.

Central Catholic, Parkland and Liberty have already clinched spots, but Easton, Freedom and Emmaus still have a shot at the fourth slot.

Below is a repeat of the various scenarios involved in determining who's going to make the LVC tourney:

Liberty wins, Parkland loses in early games at LV Hoop Group Showcase

Liberty held off Council Rock North, 54-46, and The Patrick School of Elizabeth, N.J., overpowered Parkland 81-65, in the first two games of the 18th annual Lehigh Valley Hoop Group Showcase at Parkland.

The five-game boys baskeball showcase attracted a nice crowd throughout the day.

K.J. Williams was honored as Liberty's MVP after compiling 20 points and 13 rebounds and Austin Beidelman was saluted as Parkland's MVP after scoring 26.

Friday night forecast: A lot of fuss over 1-2 inches of snow

I guess you have to err on the side of caution these days, considering the legal ramifications, but I've never seen a forecast of one to two inches of snow get everybody scrambling like this.

Not to sound like one of those great, great grandpas who used to talk about having to walk five miles in two feet of snow in a pair of torn shoes to get to school, but postponements aren't what they used to be.

I mean we used to have to have at least three, four inches of snow on the ground before anything was postponed around here. I remember the days when I was in school, hoping Old Man Winter would pile it on so I'd get a day off from school, or at least a delay, and a half-a-foot wasn't good enough to get it done sometimes.

But here it is 12:30 on Friday and nothing is coming down yet here on Groller's Corner and almost the entire boys basketball schedule has been postponed or was played on Thursday night.

The latest is that the Easton at Northampton game has been moved to Monday night, and the Bangor at Northern Lehigh game has been shifted to Wednesday night. The Wilson at Southern Lehigh game is now going to played at 11 a.m. Saturday. Parkland at Allen is now off. Still waiting on a rescheduled date on that one. Liberty at Nazareth has been moved to Weds., Feb. 6.

Notre Dame at Saucon Valley game has been moved up to a 4 p.m. start since this incoming blizzard isn't supposed to begin until the late afternoon.

Here are the predictions on the two games being played, one tonight, and the other tomorrow morning:

COLONIAL LEAGUE

Notre Dame 66, Saucon Valley 58 -- The Panthers went 0-5 against their fellow South Division rivals the first time through. They may not go 0-5 this time, but they won't go 4-1 -- which is needed for them to get into districts.

Wilson 64, Southern Lehigh 56 -- It's the battle of the Bobs. Two of the area's longest-running coaching tenures -- Frankenfield and Shaffer -- go head-to-head yet again. Warriors want payback from the team that handed them their lone loss of the season.

No Liberty letup; the Hurricanes win big for the second straight night

Stroudsburg's best hope for a win over Liberty tonight in Bethlehem was that the Hurricanes, coming off an impressive win over Easton last night, might come out flat and looking ahead to Friday's game against Freedom.

No dice.

Liberty (4-0) further established itself as the area's best team with another blowout victory over a decent Mounties squad (2-2).

The Hurricanes led 20-5 after one quarter and never looked back. Pat Donnelly led a balanced attack with 14 points.

George Yasso, Mike Brusko on "Calling All Sports" TV show this week

We have two former Lehigh Valley athletes on The Morning Call's "Calling All Sports" TV show this week to talk about two very different things.

Former Liberty and University of New Hampshire football player George Yasso IV is on to talk about Saturday's ninth annual Yasso-Rothrock Christmas City Classic, the all-day Lehigh Valley Conference basketball event going on at Bethlehem Catholic, Freedom and Liberty. The showcase event is held in honor of George's late father, who did a great deal for all of the athletes in the city of Bethlehem.

Yasso will provide the matchups and also talk about the banquet that will follow the games on Monday, Dec. 10 at Moravian's Johnston Hall.

Then we'll have former Emmaus and University of Maine standout Mike Brusko to tell a different side of Jovan Belcher, his former Maine teammate who was the central figure in the Kansas City tragedy this past weekend.

The show can be seen at 8 p.m. Monday on Service Electric TV2 and again at 6 p.m. Tuesday on RCN-4.

Liberty grad Street is among three Pitt football players charged with assault; but three will play against ND

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is reporting that Liberty High grad Devin Street is one of three Pitt football players charged with assault and conspiracy related to an Oct. 21 incident in the Pittsburgh suburb of Oakland.

The three allegedly surrounded a man, and, according to the story, Street allegedly punched the man in the head.

The other players charged were star running back Ray Graham and defensive back Lafayette Pitts.

Graham, of Elizabeth, N.J., is the Panthers' leading rusher with 622 yards and seven touchdowns. Pitts, of East Pittsburgh, is also the team's top kick-returner.

The three were not arrested, but will receive summonses by mail telling them to report to court for a Jan. 9 preliminary hearing.

The University of Pittsburgh athletic department issued a statement on Friday:

“The University of Pittsburgh Athletic Department was recently made aware of a police report relating to an incident allegedly involving three of our football student-athletes on October 21. Those individuals have denied any involvement with the situation and have offered to speak with authorities, although to date they have not been questioned or received any court documents. We take matters of player discipline very seriously and will continue to cooperate with any investigation. However, we will not, and hope others will not, rush to judgment on these misdemeanor allegations. All three players will remain active members of our program while we gain more clarity on this situation.”

So, based on that statement, all three players will be participating on Saturday when Pitt meets No. 4 ranked Notre Dame in South Bend (3:30, NBC).

Street, a redshirt junior, leads the Big East in several receiving categories with 50 catches for 695 yards (13.9 average) and four touchdowns. He is averaging a league-best 6.25 receptions and 86.9 receiving yards per game.

Street had a career-high 140 receiving yards on six catches in Pitt's 47-17 victory over Temple. It was his third 100-yard receiving performance of the year.

He has a chance to go down as one of the most prolific Pitt pass-catchers of all-time. He currently has 128 catches to rank ninth (tied) in school history and is 10th in career receiving yards with 1,767.

He is NFLDraftScout.com's No. 10 ranked receiver for the 2014 NFL Draft.